Branching Out

This blog has mostly just chronicled my training and racing over the past few years, but I finally think that it is time to add a different element to some post on here.  Over my now 5 years off running, I've figured a few things out and I am really beginning to see the benefits of all my trial and error.  I still don't have it all mastered and never will, but I would like to begin to share some insight into things that I think work and share some opinions on other things revolving around the ultra community.

In this way, I am branching out and adding some new and potentially useful elements to this blog instead of it just being, "look what I did."  This is not to say that I want chronicle my training and racing anymore, but will try have some post related to different running subjects including: shoes, gear, cross training, wilderness tips, trails & other open spaces, etc.

Expect to see some of these post coming soon...

View from hawksbill rock off the snowball trail looking out to lane pinnacle

Racin' Season

The past two weekends I have actually participated in sanctioned races.  This is typically a rare occurrence for me as I usually only race "official" races at most 3 times a year.  It seems that I have already filled that quota in 5 months and have at least 2 more official races on the calendar for the year!  What is happening to me (probably a paycheck).  Below I will give brief reports (yea, right) on two vastly different races.  Hope you enjoy!

The Drool Deer aka Stone Mountain Run

the crew... I look thrilled

Over many a day of perusing the interwebs, I discovered what looked to be a small little race with my type of vibe at Stone Mountain State Park.  The race's webpage and race director were quite eccentric and hilarious and I had to contact him to join.  One thing I found intriguing on the website was that bandits were welcomed.  How cool is that!  I let the "Rabid Squirrel" (race director's nickname) know my intentions and he was all for it.  I couldn't wait to race up and over Stone Mountain.

Race day arrived, and I began to fill guilty for not paying the extremely cheap entry fee, so I showed up with it to show my appreciation for Mr. Squirrel and his dedication to making this race as fun and goofy as possible.  The course would be the 5 mile Stone Mountain Loop trail.  It began by falling of the face of the earth down a ton of wooden steps beside a cascading waterfall, then leveled out for a bit, but soon enough climbed 700 ft up plenty of stone steps to the top of the appropriately named Stone Mountain.  After reaching the summit, you descended down a loose gravel trail, with plenty of switchbacks back to the start.

at the summit in 1st

After sizing up my competition, I thought that I had a really good shot of making the podium or even winning this thing, although that really wasn't the whole idea behind the "race".  It didn't matter too much as I was planning on putting out a race effort to be my last tune up before the next weekend's half marathon.  Soon we started and I found myself in a group of 4 runners headed to the stairs.  Upon arriving at the the stairs I was quickly dropped by 2 of these folks.  Apparently, I need to start doing downhill stair repeats because I was ridiculously slow.  By the time I reached the flat section, I was about 200 yards behind the duo that dropped me.  I began to kick it and hoped to gain ground slowly, which I did.  I was within 100 yards by the time we reached the climb and I had a feeling that I should catch the guys since they were both flatlanders.  I finally caught up with them mid way up the climb, but once I was back with them I decided to take a break and hike with them to the summit, which in hindsight was a mistake.  I was moving very well up the climb and running past them while they were hiking could have played some mental games with them and may have given me a better edge.  Once we neared the final summit push, I finally made my move and took over 1st place.  They weren't too far behind though as we hit the descent about 100 ft apart.  I tried to hammer it down the loose gravel trail, but the switchbacks were slowing me down considerably and they were making up time on each one.  The course finally started to even out and I began to pick up the pace even more.  I created separation between one of the runners, but I wasn't quite sure which runner was still close behind.  Once we finally hit the last .4 mile return section, I saw who it was and was surprised.  Surprised and concerned.  He soon caught up with me and we were running neck and neck until the final 100 yards of the course.  It ended on a slight uphill and he cranked it and I had nothing left to match him.  I crossed the finish line 2nd, losing the race in the last 100 yards.

getting out kicked on camera....great

Obviously, I was a little disappointed, but it wasn't a big deal.  We both ran a great race and I underestimated the guys downhill speed.  In the end I had a great time, got to hang and chat with some really good folks, and even one a door prize (which made me glad that I decided to pay the entry fee).  The Rabid Squirrel put on a great event and I hope to make it out to some of his more ridiculous races in the future.

Pisgah Nation represent!

New River Half Marathon

starting line

I haven't raced a half since the Mistletoe in 2011, and with Hannah's brother Tom wanting to attempt his first one, I suggested the New River Half and said that I would join him.  If I was going to run a road half, I wanted to make sure it was a beautiful course and you cannot go wrong with the High Country of NC.  I began "training" for a sub 1:30 time once the plan was set in stone, but after the first week of too much speed work, I tweaked my achilles and I was in recovery mode.  Before I could even begin to ramp the speed sessions back up I hit the 3 marathons in 2 weeks part of the training plan (isn't that how you are supposed to train for shorter races?)  Therefore, I cut the speedwork out and concentrated on recovering from those 3 runs.  Obviously, training didn't go as planned, but I did have a great time and some great runs during this phase.  Plus, I would rather have fun while running than strictly sticking to a regimented plan for 12 weeks.  Anyway, I still was feeling pretty much in shape and had recovered well from the 3 marathon efforts.  Sub 1:30 seemed very much unlikely, but a PR seemed possible so that became the goal.

post race

The night before the run, Beth Frye kindly opened up her home to Hannah, Tommy, Martha,  Michael, and I so we could avoid a long morning drive to the start of the race near Todd, NC.  It was nice to be back in Boone and even got a chance to slackline in Durham Park a bit (slacklining is kinda my new thing, even though I had seen the hippies in Boone do it for my entire tenure there).  Race morning came and we all hoped that the forecasted rain would hold off.  It was quite chilly at the start and we all decided to shed our warm layers right before the gun and hand them to Michael.  I found Scott and chatted a bit with him and then the horn sounded and we began to pound the pavement.

scott and i walkin' to the start

and we're off

The first mile I tried to take it easy knowing that a huge hill awaited during the next mile.  Apparently, I had taken it a bit too easy and was already off my planned pace. I picked it up and climbed solidly over our first 300ft climb of the day.  I was moving well, but my pace over the next few miles would vary quite dramatically.  The rollingish terrain of the middle part of the race I had underestimated.  I was clicking of miles everywhere from 7:30's to 6:20's.  Not really what I was expecting.  

Around mile 6 I began to fill the dreaded stomach issues.  This was probably some of the reason for the variance in pace as I was trying to keep everything in.  I kept debating on using the jon or not the entire last half of the race.  When we hit the next big climb of the day, I decided to relax a bit and hoped to crank down the last 4 miles which were all downhill/flat to make up time.  During these last 4 miles the stomach issues really began to bother me and I was beginning to wonder if I would just have to find a spot in the woods.  I kept pushing the pace though and hoped that I could hold out as  I was still near pace to PR.  During the last 3 miles though, a stiff headwind greeted us runners and it never relinquished its hold.  As we neared the final mile and the finish line, it actually got stronger.  When I hit the 12 mile sign, I really began to pick up the effort, although I think it had little affect on my pace as the wind had picked up as well.

final stretch

With about a quarter mile to go, my friend John Sugg had finally caught up with me and said "keep pushing".  I really kicked it then and began running as hard as I could.  I made the turn onto the grass finish chute and hurled myself over the finish line.  I crossed the line in 1:34:49, a mear 19 seconds off my PR time.  I was disappointed and collapsed into the grass to regain my breath.

done

Although I am still slightly disappointed, I do feel that I ran a PR effort especially while battling stomach issues, a stiff headwind, and a tougher course than my previous half.  If it would have been a flatter course without all those issues I could seriously see that effort turning into something closer to a  1:31.  I do not believe though that I can get under 1:30 just yet for the half so that goal is still on the mind and maybe something to shoot for at this year's Mistletoe.  I ended up finishing 16th overall in the half, so I am pretty proud of that and I can tell that I am getting faster and stronger and that is always a good thing.  

hannah at the finish

tommy at the finish

I would also like to proudly mention that Hannah and Tommy both ran an excellent race.  Hannah finished this course in 1:56 and Tommy finished his first half ever in 1:41!  Great efforts by both of them on a tough course and on a tough day.

it hurt so good

Linville Gorge Madness Marathon Reflection

First off, I am still planning on running the New River Half Marathon in 2 weeks, but "training" has fallen off the back burner due to FUN!  This doesn't mean that I haven't been putting in good miles, it is just that those miles don't fit the specificity needed for a road half.  But who cares when you are having awesome experiences in the mountains!  Everything else is secondary.

The next two post will concentrate on two back-to-back weekends that were completely awesome in different ways.

Linville Gorge Madness Marathon

The time had finally come and my second favorite run ever was here.  I got off early from work to start ironing out some final logistics for the weekend and Hannah and I were on the road to Tablerock for a fun night of camping.  I had made all the necessary purchases, printing and laminated maps and directions, and packed up my order of shirts to commemorate the run.

Hannah and I made it up to a near empty parking lot at Tablerock around 5:45pm and began to set up camp, collect firewood, and take short hike over the Chimneys.  On our return from the stunning vistas and dramatic cliffs less than 1/3 of a mile away I spotted a hairy black and white creature with one blue and one brown eye starring right back at me.  The beauty of this animal had halted me in my tracks and I thought to myself, "It couldn't be?"  But I knew immediately who this creature was and cried out, "LUNA!!!!"  She ran to me and I to her and soon we were joined by her fellow companions Jon and Melissa.  I hadn't seen all three of them since this summer when Hannah and I had returned home from Leadville, CO.  We began to catch up on life while eating, collecting firewood, and waiting on our other friends to join us later that night.

Slowly, the others ( Mad A, 4trunks, Lauran) began to show up, even some previously unknowns from South Carolina (Brian and Dana), and we sat around the fire talking of past adventures and speculating on future ones.  Around 10pm, everyone began to retire to their tents, or bouldering crash pads, and waited for the sun to rise to start off another epic Pisgah Nation Adventure.

We woke to clear skies and cool temperatures after a windy night near the top of the mountain.  The forecast called for crystal clear skies, highs in the upper 60's, and a slight breeze.  We couldn't ask for better weather.  All others that decided not to camp the night before soon began to show up in the parking lot before our 8:40am summit push to the start, all except one, but more on that later.  Everyone settled into a nice conversational hike up to the summit of Tablerock that would mark the start of our run.  The views from the side of the trail we already stunning.  We soon made it to the summit, took a starters photo, and soon we were off!

I was bounding down the trail alongside Jon and Jeremy all the way to the Spence Ridge trail bridge that spanned the river about 2000ft down and 3 miles from we started.  As we turned onto the Linville Gorge trail, my main thought was to not slam my leg into a tree as I did on this section of trail last year, which eventually ended my day 10 miles from the the finish last year.  This roller coaster of a trail is definitely not my favorite, but it was nice sharing it with Jeremy again this year.  However, I didn't fully escape banging into a tree, but at least this time it was a branch that about punctured into my left arm.

It wasn't long before we started ascending the beautiful and more gentle Babel Tower Trail.  I was actually even able to break into a running stride a few times during the climb when the grade got to a more reasonable 10%.  Jeremy and I soon met back up with Jon at the road as he was waiting for us to give him directions.  We cruised down the road at a decent clip and arrived at our first aid station, giddy to take our first steps onto the Rock Jock Trail.  This trail is gorgeous!  The views that you get along the trail as you hug the edge of the cliffs almost makes you forget that you've been on a 3 mile steeplechase, almost.  I mean there were a ton of downed trees, like every 50 feet, but all the other runners and myself were just mesmerized by the beauty from the trail.  After completing the steeplechase, the trail decides to give you a nice easy break, for about a quarter mile, then rewards you with climb of 700ft straight up and completely exposed to the sun.  Here I bumped into some GorgeRats and then looked behind me to see a spry Mad A running up this 30%+ grade.  Dude is ridiculous!

To be honest, I was surprised I was still ahead of Mad A at this point into the run (~13 miles).  After restashing my pack with food and water for the remainder of the run, I tried to keep up with the pace Mad A and Jon were setting on the road to Pinnacle.  I did not succede in hanging with them, but only fell behind by a couple minutes once at the summit of Pinnacle.  Then came the drop straight down to the pits of hell on the MST.  I was alone, it was getting hot, and my knee was like "Slow Down Fool!" Soon the trail leveled out for awhile and I knew I was almost to the river, then BAM, lets go straight up hill over this knob instead of going around it to the river.  I had forgotten about this climb, but I will not again.  I found a stick to help me over the hill and intended to use to help cross the river and climb Shortoff as well.

By the time I reached the river crossing I had caught back up with Jon and Adam, as they were about half way across as I plunged in.  Surprisingly, the water never came above my waist considering the heavy amount of rain the area had just received the day before.  The stick definitely helped in the crossing though.  But before I got out of the river, I made sure to go for a full submerging before I began climbing the completely exposed ridgeline the lead to the top of Shortoff Mtn.  This section was stunning, with brown grass blowing in the breeze and coming up just under my arms.  By the time we had reached the spring at the top of Shortoff, we were joined by 4trunks and Action, and my cloths were completely dry.

After filling my bottles at the spring, I was soon dropped by our group as I tried to choke down some cheese crackers.  I was only about 6 miles from the finish, so I wasn't too worried and I hoped that I would catch back up after my snack.  While crossing Shortoff, which has had some amazing trail work done recently, I finally caught back up with Jon, who had fallen off the pace set by Adam as well.  We decided to stick to together to the end and soon were dropping down to Chimney Gap to face our final grueling ascent.  I picked up another stick and began pulling myself up the ridiculously steep trail.  Looking at my watch, it looked as if we could possibly finish in under 7 hours if we were able to get to the top of the climb in 20 minutes.  We succeeded and all we had to do was finish the last mile to the parking lot in about 15 minutes to finish under 7.  We did so in about 9 minutes, while crossing the magnificent views from the Chimneys, and back down the parking area where our crew was waiting.  My official time was 6:53:54!

After the run, we all hung out for a bit while waiting for most everyone to finish and I was informed that Abran had finally made it to the start about 2 hours behind schedule, but still managed to snag a copy of the map and directions from Hannah as they drove passed each other.  It turned out that Abran had used his Nav system and it took him to the middle of nowhere on an ATV trail.  He luckily got back to the main road and finally asked for directions at a local gas station.  What is even more awesome than that he actually made it out to run, is that he wasn't our last finisher even though he started 2 hours behind everyone else.  Dude is strong!  Of the 20 starters we only had 2 drop from the course.  That number was amazing and I was super proud of everyone who attempted this gnarly run.  It seemed like everyone had a comparable day out in the big ditch of the east.  This one was a huge success and one of the most beautiful loops out there.

Below is a slideshow of pics from various folks that ran out there.

In an Appalachia Coma

Without a doubt the past 5 days have been the most memorable and jubilant Appalachia experience of my life so far.  To say that I took advantage of my two week summer break before my job starts is a understatement.  I'll have to break this post down into daily sections just to keep everything from becoming a blur. 

Friday - Day 1 - Warren Wilson
On Friday I headed down to Asheville to get a head start on the amazing few days I had planned ahead to meet up with Adam "Mad A" Hill around noon.  Upon arrival in Asheville the temps were approaching 85 and a run around Warren Wilson College along the Swannanoa River was a must.  Mad A and I tackled an absolutely beautiful 9 mile loop and ended the run with a a quarter mile drift down the river.  This was the first time this year that I had gotten completely in one of the cold mountain rivers of NC and it was perfect.  As we floated down the river we were greeted with the improvisation of a hippie's guitar and he even threw out some lyrics about us drifting by.  Quintesential Warren Wilson!  A trip to Highlands Brewing followed that evening and wrapped up a great Spring day in the mountains.

Saturday - Day 2 - May Mountain Mama's Half
Hannah made it in late Friday night to join us on Saturday for Mad A's May Mountain Mama's Half marathon out of the Turkey Pen Trailhead.  Eight others from WNC Trail Runner made it out for this super sweet loop in the Turkey Pen Area.  Hannah and I stayed together the entire run and I had decided to just chill and run super easy, especailly after making a wrong turn a quarter mile into the run.  When I say easy, I mean a trot.  The easy 13 mile loop ended up taking us 2 hours and 40 minutes.  I never run that slow, but I knew it would be wise considering the next couple of days that were planned.  I still really enjoyed myself and the trails were fantastic.  I love exploring unknown trails and this was just awesome.  Hannah and I had a blast crossing multiple creeks and strolling down beautiful singletrack.  Later that day, Hannah and I went over to Jeremy's home and had a good time hanging out playing some corn hole, corquet, and conversing with new aquintances.

Sunday - Day 3 - Art Loeb Trail Run
This was the main trail run I wanted to get in while I was in town.  Hannah and I had lost the trail the last time I was out here and I wanted to make sure I summited Cold Mtn this time around.  Mad A and his kids joined me on the hike up to Black Balsam Knob and then we parted and it was time to run to Cold Mtn and back.  The trail through Black Balsam and Tennent Mtn is phenomenal with 360 degree views the whole way.  Running through this section of trail, you do not even feel like you are in North Carolina anymore.  Its a different world on this section of the Art Loeb.  Running through Flower Gap, Stairs Mountain, the Narrows was awesome.  I was completely in love with the path in front of me no matter how challenging it was.  The climb up the trail to Cold Mtn might have been some of the sweetest mountain path I have ever set foot on.  Although the view from the top wasn't superb because of some typical smokey mountain fog it, was quite rewarding finally reaching the summit.  The return trip back to the car was quite slow, but I had the opportunity to do some trail discovering on some proposed section of a 100 mile route I would like to put together.  Although it was longer, the amount of climb was minimal and the trail was awesome and will be a must in the route. 

Monday - Day 4 - High Windy
It was now time to check out the Splashdown 15k route up to the top of High Windy with Mad A.  The climb up such an eclectic mix of trail was amazing.  The plan was to run the whole route, but the 42 miles of running the past three days were starting to catch up with me and I tweaked my calf crossing a flimsy bridge which sent me into walk mode for a bit.  After running for about 5 miles of 2500 ft of gain, it was time to return back to the car.  But both Mad A's and my energy levels had plummeted because of a lack of nutrition and fatique, and I was practically stumbling down the mountain feeling like I was about to pass out.  It was slow going, but we made it back and I got another amazing mountain run in.  Later that day we hung out at William's mountain house below High Windy and had a blast drinking some brews, splitting wood, eating a delicious vegetarian meal, and singing songs around the fire with many new and old friends.  This was definitely the highlight of the whole trip and I had tickets to see Amos Lee the next night.

Tuesday - Day 5 - Amos Lee Show
The weather today was horrible after 4 days of phenomenal weather, so i decided not run and I was extremely fatiqued from 52 miles in 4 straight days.  Rest was in order while I waited for Hannah to arrive for the show later that night.  The show was amazing and Amos ending up playing for about 2.5 hours, which is unheard of.  It was an exellent treat and was a great way to wrap up the trip.

Passing Thoughts
Huge thanks to the Hill family for housing me during my stay.  I always felt welcomed and had a great time hanging out with them.  I ended up running the biggest week of my running life last week with 73 miles.  Granted, I ran almost every single bit of this remarkably slow as to avoid injury and it worked.  I've built a huge base for training and after this coming weekends 43 mile excursion in the Iron Mountains it will be time to start getting some speed in the legs so I can tear up races later this summer.  I'll be putting up a video of the Art Loeb run once I get a chance so stay tuned for that.

Mid-Week Treat

Since the days have grown longer and Spring was in the air in the high country, I thought I'd go take a trip to one of my favorite areas in the world to explore some new trail and old in the Roan Highlands.  By looking at an old AT map and reading some trip reports, it looked that the Overmountain Victory Trail (OVT) to Yellow Mtn Gap would be a sweet trip.  From here I could take the Appalachian Trail up to Little Hump Mtn to catch some 360 degree views before I headed back to the car.  The run looked to be right around 11 miles.  Perfect for a midweek run.

Start of the run

View from OVT on the way up

So I drove to the OVT trail head near Roan Mountain, TN and began my journey.  The trail begins and climbs on a farm road and meanders through pastoral pastures with horses grazing on the hill sides.  Along the way I had to go through several gates until the old farm road (after about 2.5-3 miles) finally surrendered itself to wooded single track trail.  The single track continued to gradually climb and then took a sudden steep turn downhill.  I was beginning to wonder if I was still on the right trail and then it turned right back up hill.  I can definitely tell that my fitness level is currently not that great after my injury hiatus from vigorous running, such as this run.  I was finding myself winded and walking on numerous occasions.

OVT singe track

After following the single track up along a stream bed, the trail took a right and I was soon back on double track.  I knew that I must be getting close to Yellow Mtn Gap because the top of the ridge line was close in sight.  After pushing through the climbing I finally made it, but then had to immediately take a left straight up the AT to Little Hump Mtn.  The steepness in this initial climb out of Yellow Mtn Gap is quite severe and one where running does you no good.  I grunted it out until the trail returned to a more tolerable grade.  After about a mile of ascent up the AT, I finally reached the open balds that lay before Little Hump Mtn and a string of beaten out dirt path winds its way to the summit.  It is a beautiful sight and one, in my opinion, everyone should experience.

View from the AT

The AT on the way up to Little Hump

I had finally made it to the top and began to soak in the views and felt overwhelmed by the immensity of  the great expanse that laid before my eyes.  I had to sit down a while and enjoy it before I made the return journey back to the car.  Which was equally as beautiful as on the way up.

The OVT on the way down

I made a video of the run and have also dubbed it the Little Hump Fitness Challenge.  Go here to check out the details and post your times! Little Hump Fitness Challenge.  Also check out the other fitness challenges on this page.  WNC Trail Runner Fitness Test.  Enjoy!!!

A Case of the Injury Blues

Injuries.  We have all had them and they pretty much affect us the same way.  It usually leads into some slight depression at first and then turns into envy of your fellow running friends who are still running and you aren't.  It just flat out sucks.  I am currently having issues with what seems to be a mix of runner's knee and IT band syndrome (which is probably causing the runner's knee pain).  My first bout with ITBS was last year around the same time, two weeks after Uwharrie (same time frame as this year).  This resulted in a hiatus of running for the rest of February, March, and the beginning of April.   Which then turned into a good month of running coming back from the issue and then another meltdown as the oppressive heat of last summer made me into a non-motivated slouch. 

During the down periods between February and April, I started doing P90X and rode on a stationary bike 3-days a week to keep up my fitness.  It worked and when I started running again in April, I was laying down some really quick 5 mile runs but still lacked the endurance to run solid much longer than 15k.  I was pretty satisfied and figured I would be able to run the Iron Mountain 50M that coming September if I got my mileage back up.  But then came the summer heat, as mentioned before, and I ran about once a week for no more than 5 miles each run.  One run a week was all I was motivated to do and my fitness and endurance plummeted.  It wasn't until September that I started really running again.

Needless to say, I don't want that scenario to replay itself out again this year with the same injury showing it's annoying presence again.   I am so much more motivated and passionate about running this year and I don't want to fall into another slump.  I have  plenty of little fun runs on the calender coming up soon as well that I would hate to miss out on.  I want to deal with this injury and get over it as quickly as possible, but still be able to run during the recovery.  Long periods of complete rest don't ever seem to do me much good.  Especially considering that last week I took the whole week off and when I went to run for the first time in 6 days the pain was still there. 

So, I will probably start doing yoga again (something I probably should have never stopped doing) and start using a foam roller to alleviate the tightness of my IT band, which I am sure is the cause of the Runner's Knee problem as well.  Hopefully this combined with some flat, gentle, and unshod running for the next few weeks (as well as icing) will help the problem and get me back to running 50+ mile weeks as soon as possible. 

If you have any thoughts or suggestions on dealing with these types of issues, leave a comment.  It will be very much appreciated and might spur a pretty good conversation.

Uwharrie Mountain Run Report!

Saturday started early at 5 AM for Hannah, my mother, and I to get ready to head down to the best organized and "fun" race I have ever run.   I took a quick shower, ate some breakfast, and then got antsy waiting on my crew to get ready.  I had a good night's rest the previous night, but I still kinda woke up in a bad mood, knowing that it would be raining at Uwharrie for the second straight year.

We left the house around 5:35 and I was trying to make it to the race as quickly as possible, but the rain just got heavier and heavier, keeping my speed to a bare minimum to avoid wrecking on the curvy back roads of Randolph County.  The forecast was for light rain in the morning, not for a torrential down pour with a few claps of thunder and lightening.  My mood was getting even worse.  As soon as we got to the shuttle area, I rushed out of the car to get to the bathroom.  My stomach was not going to cooperate with me for the second straight year it seemed.  After spending too much time in the pitch black porta-john, I had missed the shuttle and needed my crew to rush me to the start before check-in closed.  It was still pouring and my mood continued to get worse and worse.  What a "crappy" morning.  Upon arriving to the start, I was telling my crew "Let's just go home, I'm so upset right now," which Hannah responded to with a masterful tone "No we are not, your getting yourself out there right now!"  Needless to say, I got out of the car, signed in, and stood in pity under the drop bag tent with at least 20 other crazy people (not sure if they were standing in pity though).  A few of them I knew and some I knew of from WNC Trail Runner (Rick Gray, Brian Bedhun, Mike Mason, David Olsen, & Jason Smith).

About to start

At 7:00, the race director called us out from the safety of our tent to toe the line for the start.  She gave us some pre-run info, one of which was that the military was doing a training exercise and not to be alarmed by camoed soldiers carrying automatic rifles.  I finally laughed and felt my mood beginning to change a little.  On the count of "GO" we were off and on to the first big climb of the day.  I walked this hill last year, but managed to run up it quite comfortably this year, except for an extremely technical and steep 100 yard section that even the eventual winner was walking through.  At the end of the 1 mile 400ft ascent I found myself in 11th place and with only one person I could see behind me.  I thought to myself, "Not bad, your heart rate never even got close to 160 on that climb."

The first 11 miles were pretty much uneventful other than one bathroom break and a pull off to the side of the trail to empty my shoe of sand after a creek crossing (the creek crossings were deep this year, one was up to my waist).  I felt solid the whole time and was hitting my splits dead on, despite the two breaks which may have cost me a total of 5 minutes.  I mainly ran by myself from the 5 mile point to the 8 mile point and after the bathroom break at mile 8.5, I started to run with a pretty cool guy I met named Jonathan.  We were pretty much evenly paced so it worked out running together.

At the 11 mile aid station, I got caught up and he went on ahead and I couldn't catch back up with him until mile 16 on the toughest climb of the day.  The section between 11 and 15 looks pretty easy on the map, but it always kills me and I lose significant time on it every time.  Its a constant roller coaster of short ups and downs and you can never get into a rhythm.  On the climb at 16, a caught 2 more runners and found myself in 8th place.  At the 17.5 mile aid station, I passed Jonathan and was in 7th feeling strong heading into the turn around.

Coming into the turn around

Heading back out after taking care of business

 I reached the turnaround in 3:25:30 and immediately rushed to the porta-john to get rid of some more stomach issues.  I got a clif bar and a new full bottle from my crew and headed out right at 3:30, right behind Jonathan and right were I wanted to be to try and make it back in uder 7 hours.  Jonathan and I chatted some more and ran strong together until the climb again at mile 24.  He stayed close behind until the descent when I lost him.  At the base of the descent I heard someone coming up behind me and I thought it was him, but it was Anthony and he was looking strong!  The last time I had seen him was at mile 20.5 and he was heading towards the turnaround.  After he passed me, I was in 8th place and would never relinguish that spot for the rest of the day.

Coming into the 32 mile aid station.

By the time I had made it to the 32 mile aid station, my legs were feeling really heavy and I could tell I was getting noticeably weaker.  I had already dropped 7 minutes behind schedule to break the 7 hour mark.  The first 1.5 mile after the 32 mile aid station, I tried to push it to make up the time, but I was really just staying even at 7 minutes behind schedule.  At the 33.5 mile spot, I almost caught the 7th place person, but the ensuing climb that laid before us broke me and I never saw him again.  At the base of that climb, I was 10 yards away from him!  I was just completely gassed and decided that I would just try and hang on to 8th place.  My legs had no more speedy turnover in them to push the pace on the flats and definitely not enough to help me run up the hills.  I was reduced to a walk/stagger on those remaining sections.  On the final ascent 1.5 miles away from the finish, I saw the 9th place guy about 200 yards back.  I picked up the pace as much as I could tolerate and blazed down the backside to the finish in a super fast 9 minute pace (I am being totally sarcastic about the fast part).  I crossed the the line in 7:19:41 in 8th place!  Twenty minutes behind my goal, but I still placed in the top ten for my fourth straight race!  I feel pretty satisfied, and can attribute that weakness in my legs at the end to only being able to log one 30 mile long run this winter because of all the snow we've had.

Crossing the finish!

I had a great time again this year and the finisher award this year is just awesome.  Big thanks to Micahel Mahan and his son for making all of these for everyone!  I hung around after the race for about half an hour to talk to some friends and check on how they did.  I also talked to the race director about organizing a 100 miler in Uwharrie.  They said that they were really interested and for me to send them a proposed route and they would look into getting everything else together.  That would be sweet!  Thanks to all the volunteers who make this race possible, you do an outstanding job!  Also, HUGE thanks to my mother and Hannah for crewing for me for the second straight year!  They battled logistics and muddy roads to keep my bottles full and energy replenished.

Glad to be done

In parting, I really love this race,  but I think next year I might be running the Mitchell Challenge 40 instead of this one, but I will definitely at least be running the 20 next year.  This is one race that I just love being a part of, no matter what the conditions!

Check out the garmin info here: Uwharrie Mountain Run 40M

Running with Warriors

Yesterday, Doug and Dennis (ultra warriors) decided to join me and head down towards Wilkesboro to run the Warrior Creek Loop on the banks of the Kerr Scott Reservoir.  All of us live in the Boone area and we were all ready to head off the mountain and enjoy some buttery trail and warmer temperatures after a cold and nasty week of training (very un-ultra warrior like, haha). 

Nice field along the way

The trail was beautiful and we all really enjoyed it.  It is intended to be a mountain bike trail and you can tell with all the sweeping turns and switchbacks on top of switchbacks.  Doug said that the map looked like a small child had just made scribble lines all over the paper.  After running on the trail, that would be a correct observation.  The trail was all over the place, but it was really fun.  Because of all the switchbacks, there was never really a steep grade to go up or down.  You could really settle into a nice

Doug and Dennis cruising

pace and keep it there almost the entire run.  There weren't many technical sections on the trail, and the two "rock gardens" were advertised before you reached them. Other than that the trail was buttery smooth and had some pretty sweet views of the reservoir.  If you know anyone that doesn't really enjoy technical trails or someone who is new to trail running, this would be a perfect place to take them.

After about 13 miles of running the Warrior Loop, we were back at our cars and it was decision time to keep going or pack it up and head back up the mountain.  Dennis and Doug decided to head on back, but I decided to stay behind and get some extra time on my feet.  Instead of doing another Warrior Loop, I headed out on the OVT trail.  This section of the trail was quite a surprise as it was quite mountainous at first and then completely flattened out along the banks of the Yadkin river.  I ran about an extra hour and a half on an out back on the trail and finished the day with about 22 miles.  This was a little shy of the number of miles and hours on my legs I was shooting for, but I needed to be back in Boone by 6 o'clock.  Here is the garmin data from the run (very unaccurate because of all the switchbacks) and some more pictures below: Warrior Creek and OVT

Lakeside 25k Race Report

This past Saturday, I headed back down to the Piedmont to run a tune-up race for Uwharrie in 3 weeks.  The race was the inaugural running of the Lakeside 25k in Greensboro on some of my favorite trails in NC.  The run benefited Greensboro Youth Soccer and the Greensboro Trails.  After some slow sign up rate preceding the run, people finally started to commit in the last week and registered runners went from around 60 to 110 at the race start.  A pretty good amount of folks for this inaugural run.

When I heard of this race back in November, I wasn't sure I was going to run it, but as the date grew closer I couldn't pass not running it.  I had ran the loop part of the course a few times over Christmas break and fell in love with it.  It is such a beautiful section of trail and super fast at that.  I knew that I could lay down a pretty stout time during this run.  But because of the recent wintry precipitation that swung through the area earlier in the week, the trail would not be ideal for laying down a super fast time, just an average time.  That is why I wouldn't be that upset with missing my goal of running the distance in under 2 hours.

After saying some hellos to a couple of friends that were there as well, I toed the line and was ready to go.  The pace out the gate was a bit too fast for me, so I just settled into a rhythm I was comfortable with and decided just to race my race (keeping an average of 7:30-8:00 min/miles).  The trail was a mix of hard pack snow/ice and crunchy snow with some mud/dirt in occasional sun soaked parts of the trail.  Grip was minimal and made it difficult to run fast around the many short turns in the trail.  I am almost completely sure that this lack of grip attributed to a loss of about 3-5 minutes on everyone's times and maybe even more.

Throughout the first half of the race, my legs weren't feeling that great and felt pretty heavy.  They finally started to feel like they should about 8 miles into the run and this is when I started to pass people again.  I'm not sure if I get stronger the longer I get into a run (doubt it) or if the rest of the competition just starts to break down more than me the longer into a race.  No matter which it is (probably the later), I tend to pass a lot of people toward the end of runs.  When I got to the last aid station (4 miles left) I had promptly 28ish minutes to make it to the finish in under 2 hours.  That meant that I would have to average just around a 7 min/mile for probably the toughest trail in the run.  In my attempt to push my pace, I promptly busted my butt two times by once slipping on the mud and falling on my hip at the last aid station and then again by slipping on some ice on the last bridge landing on the same hip on a harder surface a mile from the finish.  I think my pride was more hurt than my body from both falls, although I would have a bruised hip and little finger for the next few days. 

After falling at the bridge, I had about 5:30 minutes to get to the finish in under 2 hours.  My hopes for a sub 2 hour finish was gone (the fastest timed mile I have ever run was just under 6 minutes on a flat track), but I still pushed it hard to at least get near the 2 hour mark.  I crossed the line at exactly 2:02:00!  I still secured 2nd in my age group (20-29) and 9th overall.  I was pretty satisfied with my run although I didn't reach my goal, but I know that I would have if the trails were not covered in snow/ice. 

This was a great race that was well organized and I will definitely be running it again in the future.  It definitely filled my expectations of a good tune-up race for Uwharrie in 3 weeks.  I hope they add a 50k option next year, which would be an even better tune-up for Uwharrie.  The trails are all single track with just enough technicality with roots in sections to make a bit challenging, but not overly challenging.  Plus, the trails are so flat that you can just bust out a super fast PR effort.  Hope to see more people out for it next year!

The Beginning of a New Semester

As the reality of the new semester dawns with this mornings unsurprisingly snowy start, it is back to the old task to try and find a balance between school and of course running.  But the first order of business is to take a short break from logging the miles.  I have had a surprisingly extended streak of solid training, even though it wasn't exactly what I had planned for mileage wise.  The weather will sometimes get the best of you and ruin your plans.

In the past 8 weeks I have averaged just under 50 miles a week (49.8 to be exact) and that load is starting to effect my body.  This is the longest streak of my running career at this volume.  My legs are just feeling dead and my turnover is suffering.  So a good two day break is called for with some minimal mileage later in the week.  I may throw some mile repeats down on Wednesday in preparation for this weekends Lakeside 25k just to get used to some quicker turnover on this flat beautiful course.  But other than those two blazing days, I'm going to take it super easy and probably only log 20 extra miles on top of that for a weekly total around 35 miles.  This will probably help my aching ankle as well (a problem that is becoming quite persistent and one that I would like to see go away).

Looking towards Grandfather from the summit

View towards 3 Top, Jefferson, and Phoenix Mtns

On another note, yesterday I had a great time enjoying the only break of snowfall in Boone this week by taking advantage of the weather and getting a sweet hike up Elk Knob.  The views were even more amazing in the winter.  On the last pitch to the summit, snow drifts were mid-thigh deep!  Elk Knob is were I usually log my hill/mountain running workout.  The trail to the summit is 1.8 miles of ~10% grade.  Run hard up and even harder down and repeat.  No breaks really other than soaking the views in at the summit for a bit.  I usually average about 19.5 minutes up and 12.5 minutes down.  Here is a link to that workout: Double Elk Knob Summit.

After the hike to soak in the views, I drove back down to Rich Mountain Rd to log some actual running on the plowed gravel surface.  This road has access to some amazing views as well.  Its pretty darn tough too.  The first 1.7 miles consist of a 800 ft climb to the beautiful Rich Mtn Gap and then gently descends towards US 421.  I only ran about 3 miles of this 5 mile road and then turned around, but those 6 miles got me close to 1200 ft of gain.  That's pretty stout and I averaged 8:57/mile on super tired legs.  A pretty good last workout before a mini break.

Inaugural Tanawha Trail Run Report

Friday, I went out to the trail to shoot some footage for the final installment of my Tanawha trail updates to send to the WNC Trail Runner group.  Conditions didn't seem like they would be that bad if we would have ran that day.  Instead, after getting back to my place in Boone, the bottom fell out and we were covered in 3 inches of snow in less than an hour! And it was forecasted to continue dumping all the way through Saturday afternoon.  Things were not looking good for the inaugural running of the Tanawha Trail Marathon, Half, & 50k.  All Friday night I was getting emails informing me that those who planned to run were bailing.  By Saturday morning, the number of committed runners dropped from 20 to 6.   I cannot blame them either, the roads to the trail were super nasty and the conditions were burly.  Only Adam Hill, Doug Blackford, Dennis Norris, Scott Williams, Allen Meyer, and myself were crazy enough to go out and face these conditions head on. 

There was no way that I would be making it out to the trail in my car, so I walked over to the Sun Inn to meet Adam and wait for Scott to come pick us up in his girlfriends all-wheel drive Subaru.  I definitely will be investing in one of those in the future.  It was a beast in the snow.  The roads made for slow going but we eventually made it out to the trail by 9:30.  I had been debating on running in my jacket or not the whole drive to the trail and eventually I decided to wear it.  A decision I would regret the first 8 miles and one I would love the last 5-6. 

We actually started the run from Holloway Mt Rd. just under the parkway instead of the official start at Price Lake.  This really didn't make for much of a mile difference (only about half a mile less) and it would keep us off the unplowed parkway. After the first initial mile on the road, Adam, Scott, and I all began to separate once on the trail.  Obviously, I was the slow one in this group and quickly fell behind the others.  I started to get into a funk during this lonesome running period.  The snow was dumping like crazy, and I was getting no grip in the 6-8 inch powdery snow.  I thought that putting on my micro-spikes would afford me better traction, which it did, but they continued to slide off my shoe when catching a root or rock.  So I was constantly stopping to adjust my spikes, still slipping all over the trail, and when I went to get a sip of water from my camel pack, the bit valve was frozen over.  All of this, including me trying to catch up with everyone else (Doug, Dennis, & Allen who started ahead of us, but a bit slower) I was hating the world and the trail.  I knew that as soon as I would catch up with Doug, Dennis, & Allen I would be in a much better mood.

After about an hour of running, neglecting my needs for calories, I finally caught Doug & Dennis.  And sure enough, my mood completely changed and I was finally ready to run for an extended period of time.  They were having the same problems with traction as I was, so at least I wasn't the only one.  It was nice running with them, and considering the conditions weren't letting up, I decided that I would run with them the rest of the day.  Soon, we caught up with Adam who waiting for us ahead (Scott had fell behind looking for his lost water bootle). We all decided to stick to together and run the trail all the way to Raven Rocks (8.5 miles in) and then hit the parkway and run the 5-6 miles back to the cars.  Everyone was pretty satisfied with this decision.  The trail past Raven Rocks gets extremely technical and would have been very dangerous in these conditions.

Before we headed down the parkway, we all tried to rehydrate and fuel up for the return trip.  It started getting really cold, especially since we were now exposed to the vicious wind on parkway.  Something we had only heard while running on the trail, which sheltered us with the thick forest and rhododendron.  There was a good 8 inches of snow on the parkway all the way back to the cars.  But at least it was all down hill from Raven Rocks.  Being exposed to the wind made me appreciate my jacket and I was glad I was wearing it.  My legs began to feel very heavy on the way down the parkway, probably due to the extra weight of the spikes and snow accumulating around my ankles.  It was just hard for me to push though and run the whole section, but I did.

Upon arrival to the cars, we noticed that Scott wasn't there and we hoped that he would follow our tracks back down the parkway.  Adam and I decided to run down to the start with Doug, Dennis, and Allen and hoped that Scott would make it back to our car by the time we came back.  Adam chose to run back, I decided to hitch a ride with Doug. 

When we got back to the car, Scott was waiting for us.  He never found his bottle, but did follow our tracks back down the parkway and was thankful for this as the rest of us were.  We all ended up running for about 3.5 hours.  We only covered about 13-14 miles during that time.  That gives you an idea about how slow going it was out there.

We all meet at Canyon's afterward and enjoyed some tasty grub and brew before parting ways back to our warm homes.  This was by far the craziest, most extreme, and most epic run of my life.  Even though it was on a section of trail I have run numerous times.  The conditions were by far the most extreme I had ever ran in.  None of us ended up doing are respective distance for the inaugural running of the Tanawha Trail Runs but we had a great time still.  Hopefully the conditions next year will be better and everyone will be able to make it out to this amazing run!

Here is a vid I put together of the run:

Stone Mountain State Park to Devil's Garden Overlook via MST

Wow! This week has been pretty intense for me even though my mileage and vertical gain was minuscule (50m & 7k ft). Lets just say that I want be doing 3 tempo runs in one week again. But the week did end really good even though my body wasn't feeling that great. I met up with some friends from Winston-Salem (everyone from the Hanging Rock snow run plus some new faces) and we headed up to Stone Mountain State Park to charge up the the Mountains-to-Sea trail (a.k.a. MST) from the park to the Blue Ridge Parkway at Devil's Garden Overlook and then hammer the trail back down to the cars. It would be 6 miles up and then 6 miles down.

After an hour drive and some good conversation with John, we arrived at the starting point for our 12 mile adventure. We all piled out of our cars and made final preparations with our gear and then took off. The first mile of the trail was a wide gravel road that criss-crossed a stream until you turned off the gravel and onto dirt double-track. This also marks the brutal climbing that lay before us and the first mile of it is the worse! Abran had told me last night that most of the climbing was around a 10% grade. He was right other than this first hill which was more like 25%!!! Needless to say, I was walking this section even though Abran and John kept pushing through it somehow. After the first initial climb though it was at or just above 10% the rest of the way and I was able to run the rest of the climb. I really enjoyed this climb because it was almost entirely soft double-track dirt. It helped cushion a lot of impact on the short down hill sections, which were hurting me less after Friday's blasting down Moore's Knob at Hanging Rock State Park. I could definitely tell after the first initial climb that my body still hadn't recovered from that day and it showed as Abran and John blazed by me. I was still having a great time though and the weather was perfect. After about each mile, Abran would wait up for me to catch up and then blaze on up the trail ahead of me again, which he pretty much repeated the entire day. It was fine with me because it helped me stay on the trail and have someone to run with for a little while, even if it was only about 30 seconds. Haha. With about a mile to go to the turn around, I finally mustered up enough strength to keep Abran behind and captured the moment with this picture to the left. This would be the only time today that I was taking the lead. After about two-thirds of a mile of gentle climbing we took a right onto the single-track trail that would lead us to Devil's Garden Overlook. We cruised down the trail and made it to the turn around in 1:11. But when we arrived there, we didn't see John who had been in front of us almost the entire climb. He must have missed the turn and went straight. On the way back up, we ran into the rest of the group and asked if they had seen John or Derrien. They said that they hadn't so Abran and I decided that we would make a short look for them. After about half a mile of going down the suspected trail they were on, we decided that we would go ahead and turn back to go to the car. We were sure that they would realize there mistake and would make it back ok.

The steep descent back to the car wasn't to bad because of the soft footing, but my body still did not want to respond to the demand I was placing on it so the going was quite slow. I passed a few hikers out on this beautiful day and said a quick "hello" and went on my way. All I could think about was that last hard descent down to the gravel road and how bad it was going to hurt. It didn't end up being that bad and I met Abran at the bottom and we both started waiting for everyone else to come in. Sure enough, less than 5 minutes later John came cruising down the hill. We asked him what happened and sure enough he missed the turn, came back up, met Derrien, went back down the wrong trail, and then him and Derrien decided to turn around and take it home minus Devil's Garden Overlook. I think Abran's face in this picture says it all regarding our reaction to this quite humorous story.

Everyone eventually showed up and we took it back to the cars. Everyone's day was finished except mine and I contemplated not running any more. I wanted to try and get in around 22 miles today but I just didn't know if my body could take it. After about 20 minutes of eating and conversing in the parking lot I decided that I would at least go up to Wolf Rock and check it out. Apparently, Wolf Rock and Cedar Rock warranted pretty good views of the surrounding peaks and Stone Mountain. This would add about another 4.5 miles on the day for a total of 18.1. Definitely not 22 miles, but more than 13.1. So, I said my goodbye's to everyone and drove to the Wolf Rock trailhead, because it would have been another two miles of pavement otherwise.

My energy on the climb up to Wolf Rock was solid after eating quite a bit at the parking area, but the residual soreness in my legs was still there. So again, more slow going. As I reached Wolf Rock and Cedar Rock I was awarded with great views represented in these two pictures. I'm glad I decided to tack on these few extra miles. The views were worth it! Stone Mountain is so unique and the views of the Blue Ridge were outstanding.

Well, after dragging my body back to the car it was time to head back to Boone for the school year. But before school starts, I've got one more big run. The Tanawha Marathon, Half, & 50k! This is a fun run I am throwing with the WNC Trail Runner group, so if you haven't checked it out do so now and send me and RSVP if you want to join!

A little video for your viewing pleasure

I had a really great week of running last week! I got to explore some more technical and tough singe-track in the Uwharrie Mountain region of the Piedmont and head out to some of the very places that got me loving trail running. One of these places is highlighted in this video I made. It is Southwest Park, the newest member of the Guilford County Park system that borders Randleman Lake. The trails aren't the greatest in the world, but it does have a lot of up and down and can be a bit of a challenge at times. Still nothing compared to the Boone area, but the Park has a nice, very natural vibe. Hope you enjoy the video!

PR at Kitsuma!

Ever since my first attempt out at Kitsuma, (first fun run with WNC Trail Runner) I've been longing to get back out there and better my time. My time of 1:44:45 was, needless to say, disappointing. Granted, I did have a few excuses as to why my time was so slow. First off, the trail was utterly destroyed when I went out and ran it the first time. Someone had been contracted to "improve" the trail and they destroyed it a day or two before the Kitsuma Kookout Challenge. The run was the equivalent of running in the sand! Secondly, my fitness was just beginning to develop after a lazy summer of almost zero running. Thirdly, that was my long run for that week. I know what you are thinking, "It is only 9.25 miles long, that's not a long run." Granted, but like I said, my fitness was still developing. Yes, these are some valid excuses, but I know that even then I could have done better than 1:44:45! I really just did not give it my best effort.

So, since I was done with this semester's load of school and my fitness had obviously improved since September, it was time to take the trip back down to Kitsuma and lay down a time I would be proud of (somewhere between the 1:30-1:35 mark). I got up with Adam (a.k.a Mad-A), to see if he would want to join me for the klimb. He suggested that I head down and hang at it his place the night before and then wake up and drive the short 20 minutes over to the trail head and give it a whirl. It sounded like a solid plan to me, so that's what I did. Wednesday night consisted of some good brews and some definite "ultra-nerd" talk between Adam and I before we finally got some sleep for the spectacular day that lay ahead.

Thursday morning greeted us with ideal conditions for trying to put down a solid time. Temps were in the low 40's and the skies were clear. After taking care of some pre-run "stomach issues" I was ready to go. The plan was that I would lead on the first miles descending down into the Old Fort Picnic Area and then Mad-A would take the lead at the turnaround and pace me back up the near 2,000 ft of gain to the car.

The first mile of the the trail out from the Ridgecrest trail head is up to the top of Kitsuma peak. I decided that I would push it up hard and let my body recover on the long descent afterward and let gravity do some work. I might have pushed it a little to hard, because I was completely anaerobic (actually Adam told me after the run that he couldn't breathe on that first climb and he is a much stronger climber and better overall runner than me) all the way to the top and it took awhile for my body to recover and it sent my stomach into a fit all the way to the turn around. I just never could let my legs turn over as quickly as I wanted on the descent because of my stomach. Even with this problem, I made it to the turn around in 37:49! That was almost 10 minutes faster than my last split in this direction! All I had to do was hang on through the climb back and I would definitely be posting a time in the range I was shooting for.

Adam began to pace me up the long climb and allowed me a much needed walk break. I tried to get down a GU at this point, but my stomach was still giving me a fit and just the taste of what seemed to me, an overly super sweet energy concoction, almost made me throw up right there on the trail. I could only stomach about a quarter of the GU. Soon, Adam had me running again, which was actually welcomed. Although my stomach felt off, my legs were feeling really good at this point. I was also looking forward to getting back to the water we dropped about halfway up the trail to get the super sweet after taste of the GU out of my mouth. This definitely provided some extra motivation to get up this climb as fast, but comfortable as possible. It was also great having Adam right there in front of me telling when to run hard, when to lay back, and when to just push through. This really helped me from getting over taxed like I did on the first climb of the day and keeping a solid steady pace.

Adam had mentioned trying to get sub-50 at the turn around and I thought to myself that I probably couldn't, but I would give it my best. When we came around a bend in the trail that would signify one last short but extremely steep climb, Adam yelled out that I had about a 30 second cushion on going sub-50 if we kept up this pace. This news acted like a rejuvenating factor to my body and I bombed it down the short descent to the base of the day's final climb back up to Kitsuma peak. That extremely short climb though about killed me! Granted it is about 30%, but it is only like a couple of hundred feet long at that. After grunting my way up to the summit, I had just a bit more than 3/4 of a mile of switchbacking trail to the car. I did my best to push it down the switchbacks as fast as possible. When I got to the last bit of slight downhill, it was all straight an non-technical trail to the end. At this moment Adam yelled out that sub-50 was almost in the bag! Again this news lit a spark in me and all the sudden I became a track runner and about half-way down this stretch reality hit me and I was forced to settle back down into a more tolerable 5:30/mile pace instead of the 4:40/mile I was trying to muster up. Either way, it was still flying for me.

I finally hit the pavement at Ridgecrest, stopped my watch, gave Adam a high-five, and looked down at 1:27:36 displayed across the screen. 1:27:36!!!! I had made the return trip in 49:46, breaking the sub-50 barrier! Adam was more ecstatic than me, but that was because I was still trying to catch my breath and gather myself. I had just smashed my old time and completely smashed my expectations for the day! I didn't even think I was going to get under 1:35 . Obviously, my recent training routine of climbing notable peaks around Boone has paid off. I also cannot thank Adam enough for helping pace and motivate me today. I've joined the rank of Kitsuma Kid's with this run, but now it is time to try and get into the Kitsuma Klub. This would mean I have to shave another 7:37 off of today's run. This definitely seems out of reach in the immediate future, but we will see what another few months of solid training will do. Here is the garmin data: Kitsuma PR run

P.S. If you haven't got out to do this challenge, do it as soon as possible and post your times up on the WNC Trail Runner Kitsuma page!